Pad Man Director R Balki Calls Bollywood Blockbusters In Last 4-5 Years 'Damn Boring' And 'Worst'

The past few years have been tough on Bollywood as many highly anticipated movies fell flat at the box office. This year we saw - Stree 2, Singham Again, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Shaitaan, among others left a mark at the box office. Apart from blockbusters, Hindi cinema also witnessed several sleeper hits, including 12th Fail, Munjya and Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya. As the Hindi cinema is basking in the success of their blockbuster movies, filmmaker R Balki called all the above-mentioned movies "worst" and "damn boring".

R Balki criticises recent Bollywood blockbuster movies

While speaking at an event at MIT World Peace University in Pune, R Balki, known for movies such as Pad Man, Ghoomer and Mission Mangal, opined on the decline in the entertainment value of modern movies. The filmmaker feels nowadays movies lack "masala and paisa vasool" stories. “A few blockbusters that have happened in the last four or five years, or whatever, have actually been the worst films,” he said.

“I’m just saying, not only from an intellectual or an artistic point of view but also from the old entertainment, ‘masala, paisa vasool’ kind of a feel. Also, they’re damn boring. The fun has completely gone from our blockbusters," he stated. Explaining how marketing campaigns of movies often manipulate audience perception, the filmmaker added that movies have "become like a project" now. "There’s an economics associated with that stuff. They want to recover this, they’re putting this money, they’re pumping the marketing out. It’s marketing, basically. It’s just driving people towards believing something is good. By the time people believe it’s bad, the film has made its money," he added.

Who is R Balki?

He is considered one of the finest directors of Indian cinema as almost all his films have been ahead of time. He started his directorial journey in 2007 with Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu's Cheeni Kum. He then went on to direct movies, including Paa, Shamitabh, Ki & Ka, Pad Man and Chup: Revenge of The Artist. His last directorial movie was released in 2023 Ghoomer, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Saiyami Kher. The movie was well received by the audience and had its world premiere as the opening film at the 12th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.